Many gaming establishment that provide gaming machine and table games to patrons offer complimentary items to the patrons to encourage the patrons to continue playing the games and as consideration for the patrons' business. For example, gaming establishments such as casinos, pubs, or other venues may offer free beverages or food items to players while the players play at a gaming machine or gaming table.
Many casinos and pubs with gaming machines have integrated player tracking systems. One of the purposes of the player tracking system is to reward players for patronizing their location and gambling at their machines. Part of these rewards includes providing complimentary gifts (“comps”). Such gaming machines are typically located in proximity of hosts and/or bartenders that give additional complimentary gifts or rewards to players that wager or gamble on the gaming machines. Such gifts are often in the form of beverages or food.
Due to the expense of providing complimentary rewards, casino operators often wish to ensure that the players are actually playing games at the machines, and not merely loitering at the location, before providing the complimentary rewards. In some instances, the casino operators may attempt to base complimentary gifts provided by hosts or bartenders on data received using the player tracking systems. However, even with such player tracking systems, it is difficult to determine and to communicate to a host or bartender which players are deserving of complimentary gifts.
For example, it is virtually impossible for a casino to manually track service of comps, such as drinks, to players of different gaming machines to ensure that enough time passes between serving comps and to ensure that the players are deserving of the comps. This is due to the sheer number of gaming machines and players at an establishment, as well as the fact that the player moves from gaming machine to gaming machine. The different establishment employees such as servers working in different areas of the establishment have no practical possibility of ensuring comps are consistently served at the right times to the right players. Thus, a way to leverage a technological solution to this problem is desired.